Don't demonise diesel

New data proves modern cars emit low pollutant emissions

The adoption of the latest diesel car emissions-busting technology allied
to fleet renewal programmes and supported by alternative fuel vehicles
where appropriate is critical to the government meeting air quality
improvement targets.

That is the claim of the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association
(ACEA) as it issued a "stop demonising diesel" call and published new data
evidencing that the latest-generation of diesel cars emitted low pollutant
emissions on the road.

Some 270 new types of diesel cars type-approved against the latest Euro
6d-TEMP standard were introduced on the European market over the past year.
The new data - measured in real-driving conditions by the drivers of the
various national type approval authorities - shows that all of the diesel
cars performed well below the nitrogen oxide (NOx) threshold of the real
driving emissions (RDE) test, which has applied to all new car types since
September 2017.

Furthermore, already today most of those vehicles showed results that were
below the stricter NOx threshold that will be mandatory from January 2020,
according to ACEA.

ACEA's defence of diesel and its promotion of the fuel comes amid
widespread 'demonisation' of diesel in some sections of the media. Indeed,
figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveals
that in the first 10 months of 2018 new diesel car registrations are more
than 30% down year-on-year.

The new emissions data also supports the view of SMMT chief executive Mike
Hawes, who has said: "Some reports have failed to differentiate between
these much cleaner cars and vehicles of the past. This is unfair and
dismissive of progress made."

He continued: "Euro6 diesel cars on sale today are the cleanest in history.
Not only have they drastically reduced or banished particulates, sulphur
and carbon monoxide but they also emit vastly lower NOx than their older
counterparts - a fact recognised by London in their exemption from the
Ultra-Low Emission Zone that will come into force in 2019."

RDE measures key pollutants, such as NOx and particles, emitted by cars
while driven on public roads over a wide range of conditions. RDE therefore
ensures that pollutant emission levels measured during the laboratory test
(WLTP) are confirmed on the road, and that the legal thresholds are not
exceeded during day-to-day driving.

Each of the 270 RDE-compliant diesel vehicle types represents a whole
'family' of similar cars of differing variants, so a multitude of
low-emitting diesel cars were now available on the market, said ACEA. The
German automobile club, ADAC, estimates that there are more than 1,200
different RDE-compliant cars available today and availability was
increasing rapidly.

Erik Jonnaert, ACEA secretary general, said: "These new findings prove that
modern diesel cars, supported by fleet renewal policies and combined with
alternative powertrains, will play a strong role in helping cities move
towards compliance with air quality targets. In parallel, diesel vehicles
will continue to remain important for reducing CO2 emissions in the short
and medium term, even though all manufacturers are expanding their offer of
electrically-chargeable cars.

"Auto makers have made major investments to quickly deliver these massive
reductions in NOx emissions. It is important that we stop demonising diesel
technology as a whole. Instead, we need to differentiate between the old
diesel fleet and the latest generation of vehicles."

The findings were, said ACEA, supported by third parties. ADAC recently
performed independent on-road testing of RDE-compliant diesel vehicles and
found that modern diesels emitted 85% less NOx on average than Euro5 cars,
concluding that the latest diesels were "very clean". The organisation's
additional testing demonstrated that the best-performing RDE-compliant
Euro6 diesels emitted as much as 95-99% less NOx than Euro5 vehicles.